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What is “Your-Opinion-Counts?” ®
The “Your-Opinion-Counts” program is a community of legitimate research organizations that have pledged to uphold industry standards as well as the “Respondent Bill of Rights.”

Anytime you are contacted and hear the words “Your-Opinion-Counts” or see the YOC Seal, you know that you’ve been selected to participate in a survey by an organization that will maintain your rights as a respondent, and will only use the information that you provide to them in order to improve products, services, or programs.

The “Your-Opinion-Counts” program is maintained by MRA, a nonprofit survey research association. (top)

What is MRA?
MRA (Marketing Research Association) is a trade association with 3,000 members internationally and 12 U.S. chapters representing all segments of the research profession. (top)

What is survey research?
Survey research is the legitimate and scientific process of measuring the opinions, attitudes and behavior of the public. Survey research professionals are trained in many disciplines -- psychology, economics, sociology and marketing, among others. Research data is collected in many ways -- by personal in-home and mall interviews, by telephone, through the mail and via the Internet. Researchers seek to determine the public’s opinion regarding products, social issues, political candidates, experiences with services and other topics. This information is used to develop new products, improve services and guide public policy. It is used by health care providers, the government, service businesses, financial institutions, publishers and product manufacturers. The survey research process is, and has been, integral to improving and maintaining Americas’ quality of life.

Survey research influences the goods and services that people want. Since researchers do not need to interview everyone (due to the science of sampling), each survey participant may represent thousands of people who have similar opinions and preferences. Researchers are trained to listen to the voice of the public and make sure that every voice is heard.

Researchers are respectful of the participant’s right to privacy or choice not to participate. Survey research companies never divulge a respondent’s identity, personal information or individual answers unless they are specifically given permission to do so. Researchers may combine the data with other public sources of information, such as census data or motor vehicle registration, to view trends or relationships, understand attitudes or behavior, determine product or service awareness, or follow up on customer satisfaction.

Research clients are typically large national companies, government agencies, political parties and institutions that know that listening carefully to the public is important to their success and performance. Oftentimes, survey researchers will not divulge the client sponsoring these studies. One reason is that researchers often help clients with new products and ideas that must remain confidential until they are introduced to the public. Also, knowing who sponsored the survey might bias the answers to the researcher’s questions. Interviewers only reveal the sponsors of studies when they are instructed to do so. (top)

Why is survey research important?
Survey research is a critical tool used by business, the government and others to help shape the products and services people want and need and to impact public policy. By cooperating with legitimate survey researchers, the public makes their opinion known to the people who have the power to make changes. Research participants influence the type of products developed, the quality of customer service they receive and in many cases public and government policy. Through public involvement, survey research has made Americans’ lives easier and more enjoyable. (top)

What is a “Respondent?”
A respondent is a person, like yourself, who has been asked to participate in a research study.  To ensure the public voice, and the expression of your opinion, it is critically important that everyone who is asked- participates. (top)

What is Respondent Cooperation?
Respondent cooperation is a term used to describe the degree to which the public participates in survey research. 
Opinion research can be thought of in many ways.  A common way of understanding surveys is by comparison to soup-tasting.  A person does not need to eat an entire pot of soup to know how it tastes (if it’s stirred and mixed up properly); they only need to eat a spoon-full.  Similarly, researchers do not need to interview everyone in the United States to study public opinion…they only need to interview a handful (usually between 500-1000).  Of course, much like how the soup needs to be properly stirred…the researcher needs to interview a group of people who were picked randomly.  If you’ve been selected to participate in a research study, your opinion may represent the opinions of thousands like you, and thus, you’re irreplaceable to the study.  (top)

What about the “Do Not Call” List and anti-spam regulation?
The “Do Not Call” list was developed to give the public the option of not being called by telemarketers – those who want to sell them something on the phone. As a result, do-not-call registries, both statewide and federal, have reduced the number of intrusive requests for people’s time by telephone solicitors, and anti-spam regulations and software reduce the number of sales-focused, unwanted emails Americans receive. But the U.S. government has recognized the importance of survey and opinion research and has ruled that survey research is not telemarketing, is not spam and does not apply to the Do Not Call registry.
The reasons survey research and political opinion polling do not fall under these categories are that both are allowed and encouraged by government agencies and legislators as important means of understanding the opinions, preferences, needs and wants related to products, services, companies and elected officials for key public policy issues. (top)

What is MRA’s Respondent Cooperation Mission?
Through its efforts to encourage respondent cooperation, MRA strives to evaluate the public’s perceptions of the research process, to identify new ways to improve consumer participation and to provide a foundation upon which to build an improved set of industry guidelines. Since its formation, MRA has worked to increase public participation and has advocated the importance and necessity of marketing and opinion research to the general public.
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What about privacy?
MRA has taken a strong position on the issue of privacy. MRA members believe that a critical part of the organization’s role is to balance the need for information with the privacy rights of respondents. As a result, MRA has developed a Respondent Bill of Rights that describes the principles governing researchers' responsibility to respondents.
MRA has also worked extensively on both the state and federal levels to explain why legislators need opinion research. The organization has emphasized its belief that through proper self-regulation and public education, the need for information can be balanced with the privacy rights of consumers. (top)

Who are MRA’s members?
MRA’s membership consists of researchers, research companies, their clients and client’s companies, academic institutions and industry associations. (top)